“Good dystopia” may sound like an oxymoron, but a lot of good dystopia-pop has come out of the Bay lately, particularly within the San Francisco synth scene: There’s Vice Reine, ContainHer, OVRGRWN—and Frank Ene, who emerged solo with EP No Longer in the thick of the pandemic in 2020. On his first solo full-length Cruel a l’amour, Ene further embraces minor-key darkness, this time filtered through brooding synthesizer sounds, while keeping it danceable and club-ready. It’s Black Mirror’s “San Junipero” transposed into song.
And is it any surprise that some parts of the Bay have taken a turn for the morose? It was going through a tumultuous transformation even before COVID-19 changed nightlife as we know it. But we still make our own fun as we have for decades. And there’s no better summation of the irrepressibly lively Bay Area—one that’s now imbued with the lingering dread of the pandemic—than an album like Cruel a l’amour. (By the way, the title isn’t just for show: The album is sung partially in French.)
